Every Teacher’s Guide to Assessment It’s not a stretch to say that assessment is a hot button issue in education; however, you’d be hard pressed to find an educator who doesn’t see the value in measuring student progress. Assessments themselves have been vilified, when, in fact, it’s why assessments are given and how the data is used that is really the issue. The Glossary of Education Reform gives this great overview of what high-stakes testing is and how it impacts students, teachers, and schools. Basically, high-stakes testing has consequences for the test-takers and givers—sometimes in the form of a high school diploma, grade advancement, and even teachers’ salaries. Let’s take a look at what assessment is, why it’s important, and how it can be delivered in the classroom in a useful manner. What is assessment? Assessment is the measurement of what students are learning. Why do we do it? The information gleaned from assessments is extremely valuable. Assessment Basics Types of Assessment Question Types Delivery Methods
Formative Assessment: Bridging the Research - Practice Divide “Teach, mark, move on: that’s the old paradigm. Today’s classrooms have changed. It is important to show the students where they are, how to improve, and where to go from here… It’s no longer about “this is your mark and that’s the end of the story”. ~ Secondary Teacher Most educational jurisdictions acknowledge a dichotomy between assessment practices that are ongoing and take place during a lesson or unit of study and those that primarily serve an evaluative function at the end of a unit or term. Although research has clearly shown that formative assessment can enhance student success, there is firm evidence of a research-practice divide. Although research has clearly shown that formative assessment can enhance student success, there is firm evidence of a research-practice divide. Research versus Practice Bridging the Divide Based on the emergent evidence from our study of K-12 administrators and teachers, we consider focusing on the following aspects of assessment. Networked Communities
The Best 8 Web Tools for Doing Formative Assessment in Class February 25, 2015 Formative assessment, as we have agreed elsewhere, is assessment for learning which is completely different from summative assessment, which is assessment of learning. The insights gained from formative assessments are usually used to decide on the next instructional steps and also inform teachers as to the additional opportunities needed to ensure students' success. Examples of formative assessment include: assigning projects and performances, giving writing assignments, and asking questions. There are a variety of ways to do formative assessment in class and this post features some interesting examples of formative assessment techniques. 1- Today’s Meet This is an excellent tool to use with students to gather instant feedback on their learning or poll them on matters related to what you teach them. 2- Socrative Socrative is one of our favourite tools for getting feedback from students. 3- Infuse Learning 4- iClicker 5- Poll Everywhere
Examples of Formative Assessment When incorporated into classroom practice, the formative assessment process provides information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are still happening. The process serves as practice for the student and a check for understanding during the learning process. The formative assessment process guides teachers in making decisions about future instruction. Here are a few examples that may be used in the classroom during the formative assessment process to collect evidence of student learning. Observations Questioning Discussion Exit/Admit Slips Learning/Response Logs Graphic Organizers Peer/Self Assessments Practice Presentations Visual Representations Kinesthetic Assessments Individual Whiteboards Laundry Day Four Corners Constructive Quizzes Think Pair Share Appointment Clock eHow: Types of Formative Assessment
Visual thinking Visual thinking is a way to organize your thoughts and improve your ability to think and communicate. It’s a way to expand your range and capacity by going beyond the linear world of the written word, list and spreadsheet, and entering the non-linear world of complex spacial relationships, networks, maps and diagrams. It’s also about using tools — like pen and paper, index cards and software tools — to externalize your internal thinking processes, making them more clear, explicit and actionable. Why is visual thinking important? There’s more information at your fingertips than ever before, and yet people are overwhelmed by it. We think in pictures. Think you can’t draw? Squiggle birds (I learned squiggle birds from my friend Chris Glynn). So why is visual thinking important? The whirl. Visualization is increasingly used in business and science to simplify complexity: a picture is worth a thousand words. Drawing is a natural process for thinking, exploring ideas and learning. 1. 2. 3. 4.
75 Digital Tools and Apps Teachers Can Use to Support Formative Assessment in the Classroom There is no shortage of formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning. We didn’t just add any old tool to this list. Supports formative instructional strategies and ways to activate learners to be resources for themselves and peersIs free or awful close to it (under $10 per year, where possible)When possible, both students and teachers can take the activator role (sometimes teachers need to get things started) Before you dig into the tools, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish with your students. The tools Learn more To get the most out of formative instructional strategies, also check out our formative practices workshops.
Seven Tech Tools for Fast Formative Assessment by Curtis Chandler You and I would be hard-pressed to find a teacher who’s against formative assessment. We would have better luck finding someone who hates whales or pizza. In theory, every teacher is regularly designing and deploying a variety of outcomes-based learning activities that help the teacher determine where students are in the learning process. But in practice, formative assessment is more like proper diet and regular exercise—just another one of those things that we all know is important, but few of us have the time and focus to achieve. In education, there is nothing—not even technology—that is a silver bullet. That’s why I’m always on the hunt for free tech-tools that help me engage students, track their individual achievement, and provide them with opportunities for improvement. 1. Self-assessment and other metacognitive strategies are some of the most effective ways to improve student learning (Hattie, 2012). 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Make Time for Formative Assessment Dr.
5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools I thought I could read my students' body language. I was wrong. As an experiment, I used Socrative when I taught binary numbers. Why Formative Assessment Makes Better Teachers Formative assessment is done as students are learning. Here's what happened in my classroom. "We've got this, it's easy," they said. I looked at the other students and asked, "Do you have this?" They nodded their heads furiously up and down in a "yes." My teacher instincts said that everyone knew it, but I decided to experiment. I was floored. I taught for another few minutes and gave them another problem. But the end result was not what you think. I am sold. Good teachers in every subject will adjust their teaching based upon what students know at each point. Formative Assessment Toolkit Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each tool. 1. Socrative can be used for quick quizzes and also on the fly, as I've already shared. 2. Kahoot lets us build fun quizzes. 3. I’m in-flipping my class and using videos. 4. 5.
15 no-prep games with just little scraps of paper One of the most flexible and useful resources in the classroom are bits of scrap paper. One thing that has really developed in my teaching over the years is my ability to react flexibly to things that happen in class, such as students knowing more or less about the language point than I expected, having wrong information about the class, students arriving late, or energy levels not being what I expected. One vital part of developing that ability to respond rather than just stick to the lesson plan has been to find and develop games that can be can be added to almost any class as and when needed. One of the most flexible and useful resources in the classroom are bits of scrap paper that are blank on one side, cut or torn so that each piece is approximately 2cms by 3cms, giving about 20 pieces per A4 piece of blank paper. Games where you tell them exactly what to write 1. Give out two pieces of paper per student and ask them to write the two categories you will be looking at on them, e.g.
5 Critical Steps to Doing Formative Assessments - Illuminate Education Formative assessments can make a big difference in the classroom. The evidence proves it. Many studies show that the average effect size of the impact of formative assessment on standardized tests is 0.4 to 0.7. The change in “effect size” is considered as going from moderate to strong. That’s a home run in the world of treatment effects. Yet, some of you might be wondering, “This sounds great, but how can we apply this in the classroom?” Here are 5 critical steps to guide the process of formative assessments in your classroom. 1. The skills and knowledge associated with the standard need to be clear and obtainable. Students should also know where they are on the learning continuum (i.e., they know the target). If you have a learning progression, and the students know what that looks like, then the formative assessments will let them know what comes next. 2. 3. This is the most important element of formative assessments. 4. 5. Final Thoughts
20 useful ways to use TodaysMeet in schools TodaysMeet is an easy-to-use, versatile digital tool. It can enhance discussions, provide a place for ideas and more. TodaysMeet is so simple yet so versatile that it has become one of my go-to digital tools. It’s designed as a backchannel — the conversation behind what’s going on. TodaysMeet creates personal chat room that you can set up and invite people to. They can quickly and easily write comments or questions for anyone in the chat room to see. TodaysMeet is literally the easiest website to use I’ve ever come across. That’s it. You can immediately share the URL to the room (in our DitchThatTextbook example, the room we would create is TodaysMeet.com/DitchThatTextbook) and start the conversation. Each message has a 140-character limit, so be concise. I already use TodaysMeet in a number of ways in my classroom and can see so many other possibilities. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Which of these ideas sounds the most useful? Related In "Ed Tech"
Formative Icebreakers: free instructions to the best games and activities How to Do Formative Assessment in Distance Learning Whether we use synchronous or asynchronous online sessions, whether we call it distance or virtual learning, we’re all challenged to provide meaningful education experiences at a distance as the education world grapples with the impact of Covid-19. This type of learning is nothing new, but it is new to many of us and has caused us to quickly shift our practices. Formative assessment at a distance is challenging but possible, and we still need to check for understanding and provide meaningful feedback. Formative Assessment at a Distance Know your purpose: There are so many tools to use to check for understanding. Make sure the tools you use fit your purpose. Collect data over time: Formative assessment is a process, and it’s important to collect evidence of learning over time. You might ask students to submit reflection videos in Seesaw or send photos of their progress. Focus on feedback: When checking for understanding, it’s important to communicate the feedback that comes from it.